Motor vehicle with air duct sections for the air conditioning of the vehicle interior space

ABSTRACT

A motor vehicle has lower and upper air duct sections ( 4, 8 ) arranged within the motor vehicle in series in a throughflow direction, with a vent for conveying and discharging air for air conditioning the vehicle interior space. The lower air duct section ( 4 ) is arranged in the region of an inner floor of the vehicle and is fixed to the bodyshell. The upper air duct section ( 8 ) is part of a lining ( 9 ) for the B pillar ( 2 ).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to German PatentApplication No. 10 2008 024430.9 filed on May 20, 2008, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a motor vehicle having air duct sectionsarranged in the motor vehicle and arranged in series in a throughflowdirection. A vent for conveys and discharges air for air conditioningthe vehicle interior space.

2. Description of the Related Art

EP 1 522 437 A1 discloses a vehicle with an air supply device arrangedin a region of a roof lining of the motor vehicle, such as a utilityvehicle.

It is an object of the invention to provide a structurally simple easyto assemble arrangement of air duct sections in the region of a B pillarof the motor vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a motor vehicle that has a lower and upper airduct sections. The lower air duct section is arranged in the region ofan inner floor of the vehicle and is fixed to the bodyshell. The upperair duct section is at the B pillar of the vehicle and is a part of alining for the B pillar of the vehicle.

Therefore, the air duct of the motor vehicle is divided in the region ofthe B pillar. The division permits a particularly simple assembly of theair duct sections and of the lining of the B pillar, because the liningfor the B pillar is part of the upper air duct section.

The lower air duct section preferably extends into a region of thebodyshell of the B pillar above the level of a door sill strip of thedriver-side or passenger-side door of the vehicle. The lower air ductsection is formed to be fixed to the bodyshell up to a point above thedivision between the B pillar lining and the door sill strip, andpreferably up to a point a short distance above the division. Theremainder of the duct up to the vent is defined by the upper air ductsection and forms a part of the B pillar lining. Thus, a leakage-freeconnection of the air duct sections is obtained in a simple manner.

The vent may be formed as a separate component that is connected to thefree end of the upper air duct section, and may be plugged onto theupper air duct section.

The assembly of the B pillar lining preferably takes place so that thelining initially is plugged under a molded roof lining of the vehicleand subsequently is pivoted down onto the bodyshell and connected there,in particular by a clip connection. A receptacle for plugging in thelining preferably is formed at a transition region to the molded rooflining for pivotably holding the lining in the region of the molded rooflining. A component preferably is fixed to the bodyshell of the B pillarfor pivotably holding the lining in the region of the upper end of thebodyshell.

A region near the lower end of the lining preferably is connected to thebodyshell. The connection preferably takes place in the region of thebodyshell of the B pillar or to the adjoining lower inner lining. Aregion near the lower end of the lining also may be connected to thebodyshell of the vehicle in the region of the vehicle base or to thelower air duct section.

A region of the lower air duct section near the end that faces towardthe upper air duct section preferably is aligned up and is arrangedwithin a lower region of the upper air duct section to provide aparticularly simple overlapped structural connection of the air ductsections. Thus, the upper air duct section can be mounted in anextremely simple manner by pivoting so that the lower end region of theupper air duct engages around the lower air duct. Leakage-free divisionof the air duct by means of the two air duct sections is ensured in thisway.

One preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention is explained on thebasis of the following drawing and the description thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a passenger motor vehicle, in theregion of the B pillar, with the lining shown in different positions toshow the assembly of the upper air duct section.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a region of the B pillar of the motorvehicle as viewed from the vehicle interior space.

FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional view of the end regions of the two airduct sections.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A passenger motor vehicle in accordance with the invention has a Bpillar denoted generally by the numeral 2 in FIG. 1. The B pillar 2 hasa bodyshell 1. The passenger motor vehicle also has a molded roof liningdenoted by the reference numeral 3. The vehicle also has an air ductsection 4 with an end that is connected fixedly to the bodyshell 1 ofthe B pillar 2, as shown in FIG. 1. More particularly, the air ductsection 4 has a horizontal region that is mounted in the base, a curvedregion 5 that adjoins the horizontal region, and a straight,substantially vertical region 6 that adjoins the upper end of the curvedregion 5. The straight region 6 of the lower air duct section 4 has arectangular cross section, as shown in FIG. 3, and is formed with anupper end 7. The straight region 6 may be connected fixedly to thebodyshell 1 of the B pillar 2.

The vehicle also has an upper air duct section 8 that is arranged in thebodyshell 1 of the B pillar 2. A pillar lining 9 is attached to theupper air duct section 8 and faces into the vehicle interior space. Thepillar lining 9 is shown in FIG. 1 by solid lines in its assembledposition and by dashed lines in an intermediate assembly position. Theupper air duct section 8 has a lower end 10 that extends to a pointbelow the level of the upper end 7 of the lower air duct section 4. Thelining 9 has a lower end 11 closer to the base of the vehicle than thelower end 10 of the upper air duct section 8, and is therefore arrangedat a lower level than the lower end 10 of the upper air duct section 8.FIG. 3 shows the design of the lower end 10 of the upper air ductsection 8 in the intermediate assembly position, with the assemblydirection being indicated by the arrow 12.

The upper air duct section 8 is mounted in the region of the bodyshell 1of the B pillar 2 by inserting the upper end of the pillar lining 9 intoa receptacle 13 in the transition region to a molded roof lining 3adjacent to the B pillar 2. The lower part of the upper air duct section8 initially is spaced from the B pillar 2 in the intermediate positionillustrated by dashed lines in FIG. 1. The lower part of the upper airduct section 8 then is pivoted in the direction of the arrow 14 onto thebodyshell 1 of the lower part of the B pillar 2 and into the assembledposition shown by solid lines in FIG. 1. The pillar lining 9 is clippedto the bodyshell 1 in the assembled position by clip connectors 20.Thus, the top end of upper air duct section 8 is held securely by theengagement of the upper end of the pillar lining 9 in the receptacle 13adjacent the molded roof lining 3 and the lower end of the upper airduct section 8 is held securely by the clip connection to the bodyshell1.

The upper air duct section 8 has a rectangular cross section thatsubstantially matches the rectangular cross section of the lower airduct section 4 in size and shape, as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, regions ofthe lower end of the upper air duct section 8 overlap with regions ofthe upper end of the lower air duct section 4 when the lower end of theupper air duct section 8 is pushed laterally toward the B pillar 2. Thisoverlap is obtained by means of cutouts in longitudinal sides of the airduct sections 4 and 8 so that when the air duct sections 4 and 8 areassembled, the edges 16 are arranged at approximately the same level.

FIG. 2 shows the pillar lining 9 with a vent 17 being plugged onto theupper end of the upper air duct section 8. The dashed line in FIG. 2shows the level 18 of the parting point between the two air ductsections 4 and 8. The pillar lining 9 therefore extends down aconsiderable distance below the level 18 to a lower lining 19 thatcovers the lower region of the bodyshell 1 of the B pillar 2 and theadjacent door sill region of the vehicle. The level 18 shows that thelower air duct section 4 extends into a region of the bodyshell 1 of theB pillar 2 above the level of the horizontal sill strip of a driver-sideor passenger-side door of the vehicle that delimits the door opening atthe bottom.

1. A motor vehicle comprising: lower and upper air duct sectionsarranged in series in the vehicle along a throughflow direction and avent communicating with the air duct sections for conveying anddischarging air for air conditioning an interior space of the vehicle,the lower air duct section being arranged in proximity to an inner floorof the vehicle and being fixed to a bodyshell of the vehicle, and theupper air duct section defining a part of a pillar lining of a B pillarof the vehicle.
 2. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein the lower airduct section extends into a region of the bodyshell of the B pillarabove the level of a sill strip of a driver-side or passenger-side doorof the vehicle.
 3. The motor vehicle of claim 1, wherein the vent is atan end of the upper air duct section facing away from the lower air ductsection.
 4. The motor vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a moldedroof lining, the pillar lining having a top end substantially adjacentthe molded roof lining.
 5. The motor vehicle of claim 4, furthercomprising a receptacle fixed to the bodyshell substantially adjacentthe molded roof lining, the top end of the pillar lining being engagedin the receptacle.
 6. The motor vehicle of claim 5, wherein the top endof the pillar lining is engaged pivotally in the receptacle.
 7. Themotor vehicle of claim 1, wherein the pillar lining has a lower endconnected to the bodyshell or to the lower air duct section.
 8. Themotor vehicle of claim 7, further comprising a clip connectionconnecting the pillar lining to the bodyshell.
 9. The motor vehicle ofclaim 1, wherein the lower air duct section has an upper end region andthe upper air duct section has a lower end region, the upper end regionof the lower air duct section being arranged at least partly within thelower end region of the upper air duct section.
 10. The motor vehicle ofclaim 9, wherein the two air duct sections are connected sealingly toone another.
 11. A motor vehicle with floor, a roof and a B pillarextending between the floor and the roof, the B pillar having abodyshell with an open side facing inwardly on the vehicle, a lower airduct section extending partly in the floor of the vehicle and partlyinto a lower part of the bodyshell of the B pillar, an upper air ductsection arranged in the bodyshell of the B pillar and having a lower endconnected to an end of the lower air duct section in the bodyshell ofthe B pillar and an upper end opposite the lower end, a pillar liningconnected to a side of the upper air duct section facing inwardly on thevehicle and covering the open side of the B pillar of facing inwardly onthe vehicle.
 12. The motor vehicle of claim 11, wherein the pillarlining has a lower end below the lower end of the upper air duct sectionand an upper end above the upper end of the upper air duct section. 13.The motor vehicle of claim 12, further comprising a receptacle inproximity to the roof of the vehicle, the upper end of the pillar liningbeing connected pivotally to the receptacle.
 14. The motor vehicle ofclaim 13, wherein the end of the lower air duct section in the bodyshellof the B pillar has an open side facing into the vehicle, the lower endof the upper air duct section being nested into the open side of thelower air duct section.
 15. The motor vehicle of claim 12, furthercomprising a vent extending through a portion of the pillar liningbetween the upper end of the pillar lining and the upper end of theupper air duct section, the vent communicating with the upper end of theupper air duct section.
 16. The motor vehicle of claim 12, wherein thelower end of the pillar lining is connected to the bodyshell of the Bpillar.
 17. The motor vehicle of claim 11, further comprising a dooropening and a sill strip at lower part of the door opening, the lowerair duct section extending into the bodyshell of the B pillar to aposition higher than the sill strip.
 18. An air duct assembly for amotor vehicle with floor, a roof and a B pillar extending between thefloor and the roof, the B pillar having a bodyshell with an open sidefacing inwardly on the vehicle, the air duct assembly comprising: alower air duct section extending partly in the floor of the vehicle andpartly into a lower part of the bodyshell of the B pillar; an upper airduct section arranged in the bodyshell of the B pillar and having alower end at least partly overlapped with an end of the lower air ductsection in the bodyshell of the B pillar and an upper end opposite thelower end; a pillar lining connected to a side of the upper air ductsection facing inwardly on the vehicle and covering the open side of theB pillar of facing inwardly on the vehicle, the pillar lining having alower end below the lower end of the upper air duct section and an upperend above the upper end of the upper air duct section; and a vent in aportion of the pillar lining between the upper end of the pillar liningand the upper end of the upper air duct section, the vent communicatingwith the upper end of the upper air duct section.
 19. The assembly ofclaim 18, further comprising clips for connecting the lower end of thepillar lining to the bodyshell of the B pillar.